Tag Archives: career fair

Preparing for the Industry/Career Expo

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Are you interested at an internship, co-op, or full-time job opportunity? If yes, you should definitely attend this year’s Industry/Career Expo! The event will take place on Thursday October 6, 2016 between 09:00 and 16:00 at the ICI Center. The Industry/Career Expo is open to all Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University students and alumni.

Delta Air Lines MD90 on takeoff roll at Daytona Beach International Airport. (Credits: Nicolas Bernier)

A Delta Air Lines MD90 on takeoff roll at Daytona Beach International Airport. (Credits: Nicolas Bernier)

All major airlines of the United States will be there including Alaska Airlines, Allegiant Air, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, JetBlue Airways, Southwest Airlines, and United Airlines. Many aircraft manufacturers will attend the event such as The Boeing Company, Embraer, Gulfstream, Piper, and Textron. There will also be various flight schools, aircraft suppliers, and government organizations. Click here for the complete list of registered companies.

How to prepare?

  • Do some research about the employers you are interested in working for. Go and visit their websites to learn more about what they do and what types of candidates they are looking for.
  • Get your resume reviewed a few weeks before by the Career Services Office. Don’t wait until the last minute as they are very busy. Click here for resume tips!
  • Practice your elevator speech that you will use to introduce yourself to the employers. You should briefly describe yourself by saying your name and major and also your strengths, past achievements, and career interests related to the organization.
  • Practice interviewing before you come to the event. The Career Services Office offers mock interviews for current students and alumni within one year of graduation who are interested on working on their interview skills. Click here for interviewing tips and sample questions!
  • During the event, you should look professional. You should wear clean, pressed business attire and be properly groomed.
  • You should bring your EagleCard, a notepad/portfolio to take notes and to hold copies of your resumes, a list of the companies you are interested in, and business cards.
  • Following the event, you should send thank you notes to the employers you had significant interaction with or whom you interviewed with.

For more information about the event and how to successfully prepare for it, please visit the Career Services webpage.

Until next time!

Nicolas

My Journey to Chicago

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Two weeks ago I was able to travel to Chicago, IL for an interview with United Airlines. I was interviewing for a Network Planning and Scheduling Intern position. The whole process started at the ERAU Career Fair, where I turned in my resume to a recruiter. I was then called for an interview that night. I interviewed at ERAU for about an hour. It was very different from an interview I had done before, which was a challenge. Luckily, I was able to make it to the next round!

I was contacted about a month later, and invited to come for an interview in Chicago! I was ecstatic when I got the call. They scheduled me on a flight from MCO to ORD early on Thursday morning. I went down to Orlando the night before to stay the night. Thursday morning I woke up and headed for the airport at 4AM. Luckily, there was room on the flight, so I got a seat!

Approach into ORD with the Chicago skyline

Approach into ORD with the Chicago skyline

After about a 2.5 hour flight to Chicago, I made it. The next challenge was to find the train. I had never rode a train before, and I had never had to navigate ORD by myself before, either. It took me awhile to actually find the train, but once I got on, all stress was relieved. It was about an hour train ride to downtown Chicago, so I used the time to prepare for my interview. Once I got off the train downtown, I was greeted with the chill of cold air. I was freezing! I did not come prepared for 30 degree weather, that’s for sure.

Statue right after I got out of the train station

Statue right above the train station

My next task was to walk to Willis Tower, United Airlines’ headquarters. They provided me with a map, however I was not very good at reading it. It took me awhile to even figure out what direction I was facing. I rushed into Starbucks to get warm, and to try and find directions. After a short coffee break, I hit the streets again, frantically trying to find the tower. Thankfully, I had been to Chicago years ago, so I remembered what the street looked like where Willis Tower is located.

After I got to the Tower, I checked in and headed upstairs to United Airlines. There, I was greeted by two fellow ERAU students, who also had interviews that day. We all ate lunch, and then started our interviews. I thought the interview process was wonderful. I really enjoyed my experience at United Airlines, and hope that it all works out for me.

Coincidentally, my dad was on a work trip in Chicago, so he met me after my interview. We rushed to the train station, and got on the train headed to ORD. I only had about an hour until my flight boarded, so I was in a huge rush. Of course, the train had mechanical issues, so we were stalled for an extra ten minutes. However, it was nice to talk to my dad the whole train ride. Once I got to the airport, my flight had already started boarding. The security lines were packed, so I had to beg TSA to let me go to the front of the line. Thankfully, they did! After making it through security, I ran to my gate. Of course, my gate was all the way across the airport. I don’t know how, but I somehow made it just before the door closed. I was so lucky.

I am so thankful for my experience in Chicago. Whether I get the internship or not, I think it was a valuable experience. It was fun traveling alone to a big city. Although, it was a very long day. I will update you on the status of the internship, as I hear back.

Until next time,

Lindsey

Embry-Riddle’s Industry/Career Expo

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If I were to sum up the week of Embry-Riddle’s Industry/Career Expo, I may break out into song, signing one of Andy Williams’ Christmas tunes: “It’s The Most Wonderful Time of the Year.” Why?! There are so many reasons why, but for the last two years, I have eagerly awaited the week.

Embry-Riddle’s Career Services Office puts on the Industry/Career Expo at both the Prescott and Daytona Beach campuses every Fall, and at both events, there are dozens and dozens of employers–from many different industries–looking for their next potential interns or full-time employees. Leading up to the Expo, which takes place in the middle of the week, there are lots of company information sessions which are great opportunities to meet and network with employers, many of whom are ERAU Alumni, and to learn about some of the companies.

This year’s Industry/Career Expo was going to be a unique one for me as this would be the first one that I would be working as a Student Assistant and Career Services Student Ambassador for; so much planning and coordination goes into putting on the Expo, and it was an honor to be a part of the team who puts on the Expo.11215746_769888943137395_5927697590377692568_n

The big week all started after classes and work on Monday, October 5 at the Republic Airways information session. I was able to learn a lot about this regional airline, even though I was a business major and they typically recruit a lot more Aeronautical Science (pilots) than business majors from ERAU.

Tuesday was one of the busier days as, after class and work, I was tasked with helping with the United and Delta Air Lines information sessions. Like the Republic info session, it was great to learn more about these companies and potential internship opportunities. The Delta information session did have an interesting twist to it as one of the representatives provided a lot of good feedback on what not to do at the Expo like do not keep shaking the person’s had for a very long time nor ask the company what they have to offer you.

And finally Wednesday arrived, and it was show time. There were 97 companies with booths in the ICI Center (where the basketball and volleyball teams play). Wednesday was an awesome day filled with talking to company representatives about potential opportunities, catching up with old friends, and helping the Career Services staff with things as they came up. It was a very long day, but it was so cool to see all of the months of preparation finally come together and to hear about students’ success at the Expo.

Thursday was a much quieter day, and boy, that was welcomed, especially walking more than five miles at the Expo the day before. Although, I had the opportunity to return back to the ICI Center for an interview where a team helped transform it into an interview area as soon as the Expo ended Wednesday night. Friday was even more quiet which was nice as I was able to catch up on some studying and homework and go over a fantastic week.

The Industry/Career Expo is truly an awesome event that helps make ERAU unique, as you have representatives and recruiters from dozens of aerospace companies in one room, and there is a decent chance that one of them could employ you after school or host you as an intern. It’s a great way to network and learn about so many different options that we have after school, especially as life is just beginning.

Until next time,

Jack

Countdown to Fall Break & Rainbows and Rain

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Let the Countdown for Fall Break begin! T-6 days and counting!

Hello hello! It’s Friday! Finally! Last day of the school week and it has been a crazy one! This week was “career week.” With companies coming and doing presentations every day, career services checking resumes, and the career expo, ERAU has never looked so good!

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Today Operation Bootstrap 2.0 takes place at 4:00p. Lucky for you if you have classes past 3:00p, you don’t have them today! After 3:00p, the focus turns to Operation Bootstrap 2.0. (In my case, this is when you wish you had classes after 3:00p. All of mine and at 1:50p.) When I was walking on campus this morning, its was all hustle and bustle even at 8:00a. Tents are being put up, entertainment is being put out, and everyone is hard at work! There is even a white picket fense in the front ‘yard’ of COAS. That is something you don’t see everyday! 😛

Between classes and activities, this is our last full week before fall break, and yes I am excited! It is about time for a break from straight school! From our last break (Labor Day) to Fall Break is the longest time span with no days off; and let me tell you it has gone fast! Next week, the last day of classes is Wednesday. I cannot wait! I think it’s about time for us kiddos to have a break. Within the past few weeks it seems like everyone is giving exams, papers, and final projects. It has been non-stop. A break will surely be nice!

If you are looking for things to do during fall break, there is a lot you can do! Here on campus you can buy discounted tickets to Disney, Universal, Daytona Lagoon, and my personal favorite, Kennedy Space Center! Thanks Riddle! Be safe this break, but have fun!

Rainbows and Rain

Rainbow1The weather has been super nice this past week! Cooler weather and somewhat clear skies. It has rained practically every other day. If you haven’t seen the rainbows yet, you are missing out! There have been at least two rainbows alone this week! I have seen then from the 4th floor of the COAS and even snapped some pictures.

There is supposed to be another coldRainbow2 front coming in this weekend so more cool weather hitting campus soon! I will be sure to snap pictures if any other rainbows decide to show their face!

For you Riddle kids: make sure you have your umbrellas handy at all times! Prepare for wet shoes and cool weather to follow! Have fun at Operation Bootstrap 2.0 today!

The Exciting Life of a Physics Student

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Hello hello!

Time is sure flying, I can’t believe it’s been another two weeks. But I suppose I’ll pick up right where I left off in writing my life’s story. So here it goes…

A plot, similar to the one in my last entry, showing altitude above sea level and the corresponding vertical wind speed. This one is for Olympus Mons on Mars! Notice that the wind speed is about 10X higher, which makes sense because the mountain is a lot bigger.

Let me start off by pointing out the terrible error in my last post – my Mars map was upside down! I noticed it while working on my model in MATLAB. Major oops on that one. But I will say that it is now fixed, and the model is working beautifully. I was able to plot the vertical wind speed across Olympus Mons (which, as you recall from my earlier entries, is the largest volcano in the solar system at a height of about 26 km), and our next step is to implement these calculations in the atmospheric dynamics model to simulate some waves! If that sentence didn’t make sense to you, go back and read some of my past entries where I explain the basics of my research.

My CORRECT Martian topographic map generated in MATLAB. This time I used the copper color bar option, because the blue was a bit misleading. Lighter is higher elevation, and darker is lower elevation.

Speaking of physics and research and all that jazz, I’m getting pretty excited for the new College of Arts and Sciences building! They’ve named our new lab – it will be called ECLAIR:  Experimental and Computational Laboratory for Atmospheric and Ionospheric Research. Which is apparently French for “flash of lightning”, in addition to being a delicious French pastry. So for atmospheric scientists who are also partial to pastries, it seemed like a good fit. I will be presenting a poster about the new lab to the board of trustees on November 1st, which means I get to be one of the first people to stand inside the new building! Plus I get to wear a suit, and I always feel snazzy in a suit.

The new building seems like a good segway to my next topic – registering for next semester classes. Ah! It seems like this semester just started, and we’re already getting ready to register. My schedule for the spring seems pretty chill time-wise (only a couple classes on MWF, and a decent break on TTh) – I should note that, once you get to upper-level EP classes you start to lose control of making your own schedule. Every class I’m taking only has one section, and I lucked out in not having to take any 8:15s! Nonetheless, I’ll be taking five 300-level EP classes (Classical Mechanics, Optics, Microcomputers, Space Systems Engineering, and Junior Design); I saw my advisor today, and I quote… Me: “I just want to make sure next semester won’t kill me.” Him: “Oh it will.” Well then. I suppose it evens out for the fact that the classes will be really cool.

I also have to start thinking about a thesis topic, and man that feels so far off. I will probably continue to pursue my Martian atmospheric research, unless something else nifty catches my attention.

You never really get too old for Pokemon.

Now for those of you readers who are geeks like me, you’re probably wondering if I’m going to mention last weekend’s big release – Pokemon X and Y! Yes, I am, because that’s all I did this weekend. I bought a shiny new (used, but it’s new to me) 3DS – which is amazing technology might I add; I was skeptical – and picked up my copy of Y. I definitely have to give this game five stars, it’s completely revolutionized the franchise. And if you’re wondering, my entire team is named after moons, constellations, and space missions (Apollo, Aries, Triton, Phobos, Deimos, and Orion) because that’s just how I roll. I also found a shiny in the wild. If you don’t know what that means, just keep scrolling.

This weekend is fall break! Which is much needed. I’m planning to sleep, play Pokemon, sleep some more, watch Breaking Bad, and maybe plan a trip down to Kennedy Space Center if the government decides to run again. I should note that, while KSC is privately owned and operated and therefore still open during the shutdown, none of its tours run since it’s a government facility that’s being toured, and what’s the fun if you can’t see the cool space buildings?

This was posted on the Embry-Riddle Memes page the day of the career fair, with 298 “likes” and 33 “shares”. It made me lol.

Speaking of the government shut down, the career fair was last Wednesday (yes, that transition was completely relevant, just wait.) NASA wasn’t there obviously, which made me very very sad. I even stood next to their empty booth for a while hoping they’d magically appear and give me a job. They didn’t. BUT I did have a really good chat with a woman from Northrop-Grumman who seemed to really want to hire me. She had the same first name, so total ice-breaker, and asked me for two copies of my resume – one for the pile and one to take with her. So I’m expecting a phone call any day now, she practically promised -fingers crossed-. I also talked to some other small space companies that seemed really cool, and they seemed promising as well. Boeing seemed unimpressed, but they can keep their airplanes, I’m not interested.

And I almost forgot to mention Gravity! The movie, not the force. Go see it. Right now. It was so awesome. We went to the very first showing at 10 pm on Thursday night and saw it in 3D. Wow. That’s all I have to say about that. Granted the physics is a bit off in some places, but the amount of things they did right and the fact that the movie is simply incredible makes breaking physics worth it – and that’s coming from a physicist. (Plus, Sandra Bullock as an astronaut? You don’t want to miss that.)

Let’s see what else is going on… I suffered through an assignment for EP 501 that I think took 20-25 hours of work. It was four problems, and it took that long. What. I decided I don’t like grad school. Also, I had to go get a shot the other day, which, if you know me, you know is a big deal. I’m planning a trip to India this summer, so it’s probably worth it, but still – wah! Also also, the Indian restaurant here in Daytona that I go to about once a week got a new chef, and he makes my usual different and I’m sad. It’s not bad, it’s just not my usual anymore, y’know? (Have you ever noticed that the last paragraph of my blog entries are just the most random things I can think to mention?)

Will Northrop-Grumman ever call? What will happen with my Martian vertical forcing model? How much will I sleep during fall break? Get these exciting answers and more next time!

-Lynsey